The cleric who wanted Dirac kept out of Westminster Abbey

The struggle to have Dirac commemorated in Westminster Abbey lasted several years, as Graham describes in The Strangest Man. According to the late physicist Dick Dalitz, who led the group that campaigned for the commemoration, the main obstacle was the Dean of Westminster, who objected that Dirac had been a ‘militant atheist’. Honorary Steward of the Abbey James Wilkinson has pointed out that the Dean who opposed Dirac’s commemoration in Westminster was Michael Mayne, not his predecessor Edward Carpenter, as Graham states in the book.

Graham has thanked James for this correction, which will be implemented in the next print run of The Strangest Man.